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ilovedesign.com - Growing Creative Hub for the Global Design Community

User feedback inspires new site functionality including online portfolios to showcase print and Flash projects

DENVER - 11/24/2008 -

Quark Inc. announced today that ilovedesign.com, its community-based Web site for designers, is fast becoming a creative hub for the international design community since its inception earlier this year. The site is expanding at an impressive rate with more than 10,000 registered users regularly uploading designs and many more browsing the design gallery and using the resources on the site on a daily basis. Users originate from more than 60 countries worldwide, including the more traditional hotbeds of design in Europe and the U.S. to visitors from as far afield as Puerto Rico, Bulgaria, Kenya, and Ukraine. The site has succeeded in its aim to unite and inspire designers as thousands of users flock to the community daily to share ideas, chat, comment, critique, and generally discuss what inspires them most.

ilovedesign.com has given designers a unique platform not only to showcase their own work but also to be inspired by the work of others and discuss their love of design. The community has gone from strength to strength since its launch, and the site continues to evolve with numerous new applications and innovative functionality being regularly added based on user feedback.

In particular, the online portfolios to showcase print and Flash projects have proven to be hugely popular. Members can not only upload their work but are given their own URL and portfolio page with a stylish coverflow once they upload a critical mass of work, which is ideal for letting potential employers see what they are capable of. In addition, the site now incorporates a new jobs section that aims to connect designers with key employers from across the design industry.

Users can view, rate, and be inspired by other peoples’ work, and now they can also search for their friends and receive regular updates on their activities on ilovedesign.com. In addition, feedback is not limited to peers and potential employers: All designs that are uploaded are automatically entered into the Design of the Week competition for the opportunity to win some great prizes and win award badges for their work on the site. One-off competitions are also running on the site regularly; for example, competitions include the current The Art Institutes Design Contest and the Back-to-school Design Across Media competitions.

Now users can showcase Flash design work
Another exciting addition to ilovedesign.com is support for interactive media. In addition to supporting design uploads in JPG and PDF format, users can now showcase rich media projects in Flash® (SWF) format. These projects can be uploaded directly to the site for viewing within the gallery, or the user can choose to link a static design to a Web site featuring rich media design.

“The new support for Flash (SWF) on ilovedesign.com reflects the trend we see for designers extending their print-design skills to interactive media,” said Gavin Drake, Quark marketing director. “Designer-focused software like QuarkXPress® 8 is growing this market substantially because it no longer requires that designers learn additional software and become coders in order to design for Flash.”

“We are very excited by the response to ilovedesign.com,” continued Drake. “There is a real sense of community on this site, and designers are genuinely pleased to have a forum where they can openly discuss their work with their peers. We have had more than 100,000 unique visitors to date — which given the niche focus of the site is a great start — and this number continues to grow. The site is constantly evolving; and now with the new Flash design support, addition of the jobs section, and the online portfolio, ilovedesign.com has more to offer users than ever before — and all absolutely free of charge.”

”Watching the videos makes me strive to do better, to become better. Nowhere else will you find such insight, such motivation; and with the frequent competitions, your new motivation gets put to good use — with a possible prize,” commented Danny Carbello, Freelance Designer, U.S.

ilovedesign.com also features video testimonials from influential designers, including David Carson, Peter Saville, Chipp Kidd, and Otmar Hoefer. These testimonials provide inspiration for users as they can watch and listen to their heroes tell their own stories, debate the relevance of design in today’s world, and contemplate its future. Recently added to the site is exclusive footage from David Carson’s recent sold-out seminar “The Rules of Graphic Design,” which was held in the Riverside Studios in London, UK along with an interview with MacUser magazine.

About Quark
Quark Inc. (euro.quark.com) provides desktop publishing and dynamic publishing software that help customers design and publish richly designed communications across a broad spectrum of media. Two decades ago, our flagship product — QuarkXPress — changed the course of traditional publishing. Today, not only does QuarkXPress continue to innovate in the desktop publishing market — now Quark is revolutionizing publishing again with Quark® Dynamic Publishing Solution, helping customers cost-effectively meet enterprise-scale publishing challenges by extending the benefits of advanced technologies across the publishing process. Denver-based Quark Inc. is privately held.

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